St. John's High School, a Shrewsbury private institution, following claims that a former religion teacher abused three brothers in the 1960s, with allegations suggesting the cases were "routinely ignored" by the school's administrators. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, known for his work with sexual abuse victims, represents the three siblings who accuse Richard Doyle, who taught at the school until his passing in 1976, of repeatedly abusing them as minors.
According to a statement obtained by Boston25 News, two of the alleged victims attended the esteemed high school and claim the assaults took place both at their family home and in Doyle's car. The third brother, who did not attend the school, also purportedly suffered at the hands of Doyle within familial walls. Their legal counsel stated that “All three brothers have tried to obtain a degree of validation from the Xaverian Brothers for more than three years but have been routinely ignored and consequently re-traumatized,”
In a press conference facilitated by Road to Recovery president Robert Hoatson, two of the brothers, now in their 70s, detailed their ordeal in a remote appearance alongside Garabedian. The MassLive report quoted one of the siblings who reached out to St. John's leadership in 2019 and was advised to take his case to the Worcester County District Attorney's office. There, he was informed that the statute of limitations had expired, preventing a criminal case against Doyle.
The men's testimony reveals Doyle ingratiating himself within their family, only to exploit the trust for his perverse schemes. One brother recounted he was sexually abused by Doyle 25 times over two years, and expressed the enduring impact of the abuse on his life. The schools’ administration, in addressing the issue, claims ignorance of further allegations besides the 2019 report and seeks any new information leading to their meticulous and transparent investigation, affirmed within the same statement to Boston25 News.
Despite the age of cases and Massachusetts' statute of limitations, Garabedian and Hoatson used this platform to argue for legal reforms that would favor victims of such historic abuse. The assertion, reflected in comments shared during the conference, is that these men deserve far more than they've been accorded: validation, an apology, and consideration of their grievances, even if decades have lapsed. Hoatson termed the sexual abuse of children as "soul murder" and questioned the justice in preserving a statute of limitations for such a heinous act.
St. John's High School — guided by a zero-tolerance stance on sexual misconduct and under the banner of the Xaverian Brothers — now faces a critical juncture in its history to address these claims, welcome transparency, and fortify the protocols intended to protect its community.
